Apparatus for the mechanical assembling of statistical cards bearing corresponding data



June 29 1926. 1,591,005

- v c. H. 'STUIVENBERG APPARATUS FOR THE MECHANICAL ASSEMBLING 0F STATISTICAL CARDS BEARING CORRESPONDING DATA Fzled June 18, 1925 2 Shuts-Shut 1 C. H. 521041} 0622667 J W June 29 1926. 1,591,005

' C. H. STUIVENBERG APPARATUS FOR THE MECHANICAL ASSEMBLING 0F STATISTICAL CARDS BEARING CORRESPONDING DATA Filed June 18; 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v a A, I 9 -64 v 64 24 223 m bweniuz I en/Zeg Patented June 29, 1926.

. UNITED STATES 1,591,005 PATENroFFICE.

CORNELIS HENDRICU'S STUIVENBERG, F AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS; ASSIGNOR TO NAAHLOOZE VENNOOTSCHAP KAMATEC, OF AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS.

APPARATUS FOR THE. MECHANICAL ASSEMBLING 0E STATISTICAL CARDS BEARING CORRESPONDING DATA.

- Application filed June 18, 1925, Serial No. 8 8,111, and in Netherlands January 28, 1924.

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for mechanically assembling statistical cards which are provided, by means of punched holes, with specific indications,

the line V-V of-Fig. 1 and on the same and, in particular, such cards as correspond with one another in respect of one or more indications.

As an example of the rangement reference maybe made to the keeping systems.

It is assumed that for each one of the customers there-is a balance card in the red ords, on which the customer himself is indicated as a number by means of holes arranged in columns on the. card in question. These cards together form a file.

Now during a certain length of time, for example one day, definite transactions are carried out for a number of these customers and are likewise recorded by means of holes in the correspondingcolumns on the cards, thesefcards then being at the same time provided in the appropriate columns with holes whichindicate the customers number. In order then to be able to determine the balances afresh after this interval, the previous balances must be altered according to the transaction carried out for the customers concerned. For this purpose it is necessary for the balance cards of the customers for whom transactions have taken place to be assembled with those cards'upon which these transactions have been ex- 85 pressed, while. the remaining balance cards, which do not need to be subjected to any alteration, are kept separate.

The accomplishment of this mechanical sorting is the object of the present invention, which will now be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In these drawings:-

.Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of the'parts of the apparatus which relate to the conveying of the cards.

Figure 2 is a side view of Figure 1 diagrammatically showing the driving means for causing the various parts 'to operate in properly timed'relation. Figure 3 is a section on the line IIIIII in Figure 2. 1

.Figure 4 is a partial front elevation, part ly in section (on' the line IV-IV in' Figure use of such an ar perforated cards used in mechanical book 1) and drawn to a larger scale. 'In relation isoftFigure 1 this view is seen from the Figure 5 is a'partial section taken along scale as Fig. 4. I

Figure 6 is a plan of part of'Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a section on the line VIIVII in Figure 2. Figure 8 is a section on the line VIII-VIII in Figure 2.

Figure 9 shows a. detail. The balance cards, of which, 'as a rule,

there is one for each customer,'.' who isin dicated by a number, are conveyed like a file 1n which the cards are in numerical order, into a magazine S (see Fig. 1) where they are arranged one above the other.

whom no transactions have taken place, I

while for one number more than one card may be present,'namely for those customers for whom more than one transaction has taken place. i

The general operation of the device is as follows All the cards from the magazine M pass in order to a receiving magazine O (Fig. 1). Similarly all the cards from the magazine S pass to a receiving magazine 0,, with the exception of those S-cards which contain an indicatipn corresponding to one or more of the M-cards. These S-ca-rds pass to the receiving magazine'O immediately behind the S-cards which exhibit the same indication.

The machine will now be described in detail.

With the help of feed knives 1. and 1 (Figures 1, 2, 4, 1 for the magaz ne S and 1 for the magazine M, which distinction' will be maintained in what follows) and rollers 2 and 2 one card from each which are provided with a number of holes equal to the number ofspaces for perform tions that may occur in the cards are arranged in the same manner. By means of the levers or stops 4,, and 4 being raised position required for the feeling operation.

lVhen no sufiix M or S is used the statement is to be understood as referringboth to the apparatus relating to the magazine M and to the apparatus relating to the magazine S.

Above the feeler plates is located the feeler apparatus subsequently further described by means of which sets of feeler pins 5 are moved up and down and can thus pass through the holes in the cards.

Underneath the feeler plates 3 (i. e. referring both to 3 and also to 3 there is a fixed plate 6 acting as a guide for rods 7. The number of rods 7 provided is the same as the number of possibilities of holes in the cards in the columns examined. In general there will be room for ten holes in each column, so that for each column twenty rods 7 are present, namely ten under the feeler plate 3 and ten under the feeler plate 3 The corresponding rods 7 are all coupled together in pairs (for example the rod for the hole 2 under the feeler plate 3,, with the rod for the hole 2 under the feeler plate 3 and so on for all the columns) by means of double-armed levers 8, which are so arranged upon a. rod 10 as to be rotatable about'shafts 9, one such rod 10 being provided for each column of the cards for which the feeling operation takes place. The connection of the rods 7 to the levers 8 is hingedly arranged.

The rods 10 are slidably mounted in upper and lower fixed guides 68 so as to be capable of sliding vertically and are maintained in the upper position shown by means of springs 11 attached to a cross beam 67 itself secured to the frame of the apparatus, and are each provided at the lower end with two notches 12 and 13. As shown in Figures 4 and 9 each of the guides 68 is formed with a plurality of notches 69 for guiding the rods 10, the open ends of these notches being closed by a retaining bar 70. The upper guide 68 is fixed to the plate 6, while the lower guide 68 is fastened to a cross-beam '71 itself secured to the frame of the machine.

crank levers 15, can move when all the rods 10 are depressed, while int-he depressed condition of any one rod 10 the head of one of a set of bell crank levers 16 cannot enter the notch 12, which it is quite able to do when its corresponding rod 10 is in the position illustrated.

The bell crank levers 15 and 16, of which the number present is equal to the number of columns to be tested (seven for the'example illustrated in Fig. 5) are rotatably arranged on shafts 17 and 18. By the Into the notches 13 a single beam 14, which is'secured to the heads of hell.

by means of which the roller 20 is pushed up at the required instant. Above the ends .of the tail pieces of the bell crank levers 15 and 16 are located beams 23 and 23 which are connected with one another by ineans of a lever 56 rotatable about a fixed shaft 24. The beam 23,, is provided with a rod 32 which can bebrought into such a position that the periodic movement of the lever 4 is eliminated thereby as hereinafter explained, and likewise for the beam 23 and rod 32 in relation to the lever 4 In connection herewith reference is made to Figures 5 and 6. It will be seen therefrom that the lever 4 (that is either 4 or 4 receives its periodic movement from a rod 25 which is connected with the main drive of the machine so that it always moves up and down periodically. The lever 4 is attached to two levers 27 secured to a shaft 26. On the shaft 26 rotatable in fixed bearings there are furthermore a lever 28, which can rotate loosely about the shaft and a lever 29, which is rigidly connected to the'shaft. The levers 28 and 29 are coupled together by means'of a spring 30, whilethe lever 28 is connected with the rod 25. On the shaft 26 is also fitted a piece provided with a slot 31, into which the previously mentioned rod 32 (that is 32 or 32 connected with the beam 23 can be pushed. It will be seen from Fig. 5 that the upper end of the rod 32 slides in a fixed guide in order to provide sufficient strength for locking the shaft 26.

On the other side of the beam 23 is secured a rod 33, which, when the beam 23 is moving upwards, is pushed into a slot in the feed knife 1, as a result of which the latter can no longer make the periodical reciprocating movement for the feeding of each card. Consequently the feeding of cards ceases on thatside where also the traversing of the cards between the feeler plates is shut off by means of the lever '4 in question. I

\Vhen the apparatus is working the fol lowing periodical movements take place (1) Movement of the feed knives 1 and 1 in so far as this movement is not locked, whereby one card from each of the magazines is guided between the feelers plates 3. an 3,,,; i

(2) Downward movement and upward return movement of the feeling pins, 5;

(3) Movement 'ot the roller 20 upwards and down agam by means of the cam (4) Movement of the two levers 4, and 4 in so far as this movement is not locked, wherebythe cards, by the aid of rollers 1' (Figure '2) are pushed out of the spaces between the feeler plates towards the collecting magazines. p

All these movements are obtained from one single motor, and-are derived from cam discs in a simple way.

The motor 65 drives a shaft 41.by means of pulleys 39, 40. A pinion 42 is fixed on this shaft 41 and engages with a tooth-wheel 43 mounted on a shaft 44. On the latter shaft also a helical gear wheel 45 is fixed,

' gearing with a similarhelical gear wheel 46 which is fixed. on a countershaft 47, which also carries cam 'discs or plates 51, 22, 52. From the shafts 44 and 47 the four above mentioned movements are derived,-

' namely (1) On the shaft 44 a cam disc 48 is mounted,-which causes a bell crank lever- 49 to pivot about a fixed axle 50. This causes the said knives lg -and 1, to guide the cards from each of the magazines S and M bethe knife 1 brings a card out of the maga- ,tween the sets of feeler plates 3 and 3,.

The bell crank lever 49 is pressed against the cam disc 48 by means of aspring 66.

(2) The downward movement ,and the upward return movement (as shown in Figures 2 and 7 of the feeling pins 5. are derived from the cam disc 51 acting on a roller .57 and causing beams '58 to pivot about axles 59 mounted in the frame of the apparatus. This double "movement gives rise to an upward and downward movement of levers 60, which themselves are' pivotally connected both to the said beams 58 and also to levers 61 lpivoted to the frame. In this way it is 0 car how the pins 5 are caused tomoveup'and down through the feeler plates 3. Spring means must be provided for each of the pins 5 so as .to allow the pins to be stopped by a card which is.

I not provided with-a corresponding hole.

(3) The movement of the roller 20 by means of the cam disc 22 can be clearly understood in connection with Figures 2 and 4.

(4) The movement of the levers 4 by the lever 25' as set forth in Fi '5 and 6 is clearly shown in Figs.- 2 an 8. The cam disc 52 causes a roller 53 and thus the lever 25 to move upward and downward, because card, are first so placed by handtthat they and thus-the beam 14 fulfilltheir functions 'for'the columns on sought. Since cases may occur wherein there are not so many columns on the card to be tested as there are column feeler pins in-the a paratus (in the example dealt with three cdiumns must be tested, while seven column feeler pins are shown, see Figure 5), the operation of the feeler pins must, in these cases, be eliminated for the superfluous" columns. .For these columns this is done by hand, the correspondingrods 10 bethe cards for which agreementis to bev ing depressed against the action of their springs 11 and locked in this position, for example by means of-a pin on the appara t'us. I v 5 Furthermore the lever 56 rotatable about the shaft 24 is moved'by hand into the mid position, in which case neither the knives 1', and 1 nor the levers 4,-and 4 are locked against movemeht. The levers 4, and 4 are likewise placed in the closing. ositlon, whereby the discharge of cards bot ion the S-side and on the M-side is prevented, the locking however not being so placed that the removal of an'obstruction is impossible.

Upon the apparatus being set in-operation.

zine S between the feeler plates 3,, and the knife 1 brings acard out. of the piagazlne M between the, feeler plates 3... "We will now assume for the sake of simplicity that where testing is to be effected for three columns (it may be more, as for example, 1n the drawing, seven in some cases) the first S-card carries, in the-column concerned, by

means of. three holes, the indication 001. If

on the other hand the M-card has by means of three holes the indication 007, the resultboth on the lea' ing action is as follows For the first two columns and on the right (that is, at 3, and 3...) the so that, for both columns the rod 10 is moved downwards. For the third column, however, the feeler pin comes down at 3; for the numeral 1 and at 3,, 'for the numeral 7 This merely has the result that two of the transverse arms 8 are to some extent rotated so that the rod 10 belonging to this column does not come-down.

Subsequently the upward movement of the roller 20, occurs as a. result of which both on the-left and on the right the ins 19 rise,

so that the springs arranged t ereon will tend to move the bell crank levels 15 and.16 inwards. For the bell crank levers 15, which are provided on, their heads. with a single beam 14, this movement cannot take because not all the rods 10 have come own,

tion.

lace,

is maintained in 'po'si- Of the bell crank levers 16 there are two, in which an inward movement, owlng to the descent of the rods 10, is not possible. One of the levers 16, however, 15 located opposite to a notch 12 so that thi lever can rotate, as a result of which its tail piece strikes against the beam 23 and raises it. The result of this is that the beams 23 come into the position shown in Figure 4, wherein, on one side (that is on the side of the magazine M) the rods 32 and 33 (see Figures 4 and 5) move upwards, and on the other side (magazine S) downwards.

For the magazine M a condition is thus produced wherein the upward and downward movement of the 'rod 25 stresses and relaxes the spring 30' (Figure 6) but it does not cause any rotation of the shaft 26 or any movement of the'lever 4., because the rod 32- is pushed into the slot 31. The dis charge of thefir'st card from, the magazine M therefore cannot take place, so that the latter remains in place for the next feeling operation, while owing to theascent of the rods 33 the feed knife 1 is also looked, so that consequently no fresh card from the magazine M is guided between the feeler plates 3,,,.

For the magazine S on the other hand the movement of the lever 4 and of the knife 1 is completely free, so that the first card from the magazine S is guided out of the space between the feeler plates, and, after the lever 4 is returned into the closing condition again, the knife 1 can bring the second card out of the magazine S between the feeler plates 3 This second card contains by. means of three holes theindication Q02, so that now during the feeling for one of the columns (the third) no coincident feeling pins descend. Upon the ascent of 'the roller 20 only one of the bell crank levers 16 can now execute a rotation, which now, however, has no" result, because on this side the beam 23,, is already raised. Thus the M-card for the subsequent feeling operation -is already in position, glhils the second S-card is replaced by the This'now progresses in the case of this example in this 'way'until on the S-side also the card with the indication 007 has come between the feeler plates. Since the feeling operation now discloses complete agreement oetween the S-side and the M-side, corresponding pins pass through the cards, so that now, for all the columns, the rods 10 move downwards.

Upon the subsequent upward movement of the roller 20 not one of the individual bell 'crank levers 16 can execute a rotary movement, but on the other hand there is room for the movement of the beam 14, so that all the bell crank levers 15 rotate together, and by means of their tail pieces If this next M -card contains the same numerical indication 007 no change occurs again because now there is again complete agreement in the feeling operation on both sides. Thus all the following 'M-cards are replaced one after the other while the S card is held fast, until an M-card comes which contains some other numerical indication, for example 016. Then again there is an absence of agreement, as a result of which the beams 23 and 23 in the manner already described, come back into the position illustrated, and consequently this M- card is held fast While the S-cards are successively removed and replaced until the S-card with the indication 016 comes between the feeler plates, after which the same procedure is repeated.

Finally care is taken that the first S-card which is allowed to pass after the state of agreement between the S-card and the M- card has ceased to exist is not guided to the 5 receiving magazine of the S-cards but to the receiving magazine of the M-cards. Thus this S-card is assembled with the M- cards that have just preceded it, that is to say, the M-cards which bear the same numhers as this S-card. The remaining S -cards pass in turn to the receiving magazine of*' the S-cards, so that in this way, at the conclusion of the operation of this apparatus, all the S-cards for which no fresh transaction has taken place are to befound there,

while in the other receiving magazine are to be found one behind the other the M-cards together with the associated S-cards.

For the explanation of this last step-reference is made to Figures 1,. 2 and 3, where- 1n a constructional example of a device is illustrated wherewith this result can be obtained. It is evident from this that the S- cards are removed by the rollers 7' (Figure 2) from the feeler plates 3 and are normally brought to continuously rotating rollers 25 which deliver them to the receiving magazine for S-cards 0 In a similar manner the M-cards pass to the magazine O which is located underneath a space that extends over the entire breadth of the feeler plates 3. and 3 (Figures 2 and 3). p

In this space are arranged beyond the feeler plate 3 two levers 34. These levers 34 are secured to a common shaft 3'5,'while .by means of springs 36, two-pawls 37, which 139 are each provided with a notch 38, are drawn towards the levers.

Upon the discontinuance of the movement for the S-cards, by means of one or the other of the motion transmitting means, that is, simultaneously with the ascent of the beam 23 on the S-side, the shaft in rotated in the direction of the arrow in Fi re 2. In this figure it is shown that upon t ebeam 23, which is fixed to thelever 56 rotatingabout a shaft 24 there is mounted a vertical rod 62, which pushes a lever 63 upwards. As this lever 63 is fixed to the shaft 35, it causes the levers 34 to rotate in the direction of the arrow. As a result of this the levers 34 shoot behind the notches 38 of the pawls 37, whichconsequently retain the levers 34 in this position, and so the levers 34 come so far upwards that theS-card subsequently released is guided alon under the levers 34 out of its path and t erefore is no longer pushed between the following rollers t. Thus in-' stead of being brought to the magazine 0., this card runs along the underside of the levers 34, as a result of which it is deflected into the space above the magazine O This card then however strikes against the end of the pawls 37, which are thus pressed away for a moment against the action of the springs 36, as a result of which the levers 34, owing for example to their excess weight, are caused to rotate back in the opposite direction relatively to the shaft 35. Immediately after this first S-card'has fallen into the magazine O the pawls 37 again hold the levers 34 fast in the position shown, so

' that all the following S-cards are again guided by the rollers r to the magazine 0.. Si-

multaneously with the M-cards ceasing to" show com lete agreement with the' S-card supplied, t e plate 34 moves upwards again and brings this, but only this-S-card into the magazine 0;,

The apparatus is also provided with a device by means of which it is automatically stopped when during the feeling operation there "is a card between the feeler plates on one side only. V Merely one set of mechanism with one electric switch is needed; apparently on the M side. All the S cards have to pass through the machine successively in numerical order without interruption, for example where there are only a few M cards to'be tested, and it is obvious that as soonas there are no M cards in the M magazine, there is no reason for the rest of the S cards which have not passed through the feeler plates as yet to be acted upon. At this moment the machine is stopped, and the remaining pile of S cards is taken out of the magazine S. Y

For this purpose as shown in Fig. 7 an extra feeler pin 72 is employed on the M 'side and is moved downwards by the lever 61 (Fig. 2) together with the common feeler pins. If there is a card betwen the feeler lates the extra feeler pin 72, which must e spring mounted, cannot pass and remains above the feeler plates. If-there is no card between the feeler plates, the extra feeler pin 72 passes through the plate and causes the pawl '7 3 to turn, thereby permitting the spring 78 to unlock the lever 77 out of contact, and so stop the apparatus.

' To make contact again the contact lever 77 is pushed backward by hand to the contact plate 76. The pawl 73 then pivots about the axis 74 and catches -the contact lever 77, the spring 75 pulling the pawl to the contact plate. 76 again and thus stretching the spring '78.. 7

1. Apparatus forthe mechanical as-' sembling of statistical cards bearing corresponding arrange in columns comprising separate storage receptaclesfor cards of two sorts, a pair of perforated feeler plates associated,

with each of said receptacles, means for with drawing one card at a time from each of said receptacles and passing it in between the corresponding 1:pair of feeler plates, separate magazines o data in the form of perforations r the reception of cards discharged from-the feeler plates, at set of feeler pins associated with each ofsaid pairs of feeler plates, means for passing each pin through a pair of registering perforations in one of said pairs of feeler plates when not stopped by the absence of a corresponding perforation in a card interposed between said feeler plates, a set of rods on the side of each pair of feeler platesremote from the feeler pins, each of said rods being adapted to be pushed away by a corresponding feeler pin when said feeler pin passes through the feeler plates and a card interposed between them, a plurality oftransverse levers, each at the other end to a corresponding rod of the other set, a plurality .of resiliently i pivoted at one .end to one'of said rods and 1 mounted movable bars, one for each column of perforations on the cards, all the trans verse levers p voted to the rods associated with any one column being pivoted to one and the same bar, and the said movable. bars iii;

each being formed withv two notches, a set of levers adapted to engage with one of said notches and a second set of levers adapted I to engage with the other of said notches, one of said sets only permitting movement upon all the movable bars being displaced by the action of the feeler pins on the rods,

means for positively initiating movement of a movable lever, each time the feeler pins are actuated, so as to prevent discharge of the card located between one pair of feeler plates and its replacement by a fresh card and to permit discharge and replacement of the card located between the other pair of "so feelerplates upon all the movable bars being displaced by the action of the feeler pins on the rods, and to permit discharge and replacement of the first-mentioned card and prevent discharge and replacement of the other. upon complete agreement not being found by the feeler pins, and means for deflecting a card discharge from one pair of feeler plates to the magazine intended for the cards discharged from the other pair of feeler plates.

2. Apparatus for the mechanical assembling of statistical cards bearing corre sponding data as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a common beam secured to one extremity of all the levers adapted to engage in one of the notches in each of the movable bars, two discharge rods, one for each pair of feeler plates for preventing and permitting the discharge of cards from etween said feeler plates, two supply rods, one for each pair of feeler plates, for preventing and permitting the supply of fresh cards to replace those discharged from between said plates, a beam connecting the supply and discharge rods of one pair of plates, a beam connecting the supply and discharge rods of the other pair of plates, a rocking lever connecting two beams, all the levers that are adapted to engage by one of their. ends in the second notches of the aforementioned movable bars.

being also adapted by their other ends to raise one of said beams when said movable bars have not been displaced through the medium of the feeler pins.

3. Apparatus for the mechanical assembling of statistical cards bearing corresponding data as claimed in claim 1, said means for preventing discharge of the card located between one pair of feeler plates and permitting discharge of the card located between the other pair of feeler plates, comprising for each pair of feeler plates a rockable shaft, a'rocking lever radially secured to said shaft, a reciprocating driving member, and a resilient connection between said rocking lever and said reciprocating driving I member adapted to transmit movement from said reciprocating driving member to said rockable shaft whenever said rockable shaft is not prevented from moving, and further comprising discharge rods for preventing Y and permitting movement of the rockable shafts, and a rocking leverconnecting said discharge rods and adapted to be rocked by the levers that engage with the notches 111 the movable bars.

4. Apparatus for the mechanical assembling of statistical cards bearing corresponding data as claimed in claim 1, the means her, and a resilient connection between said rocking lever and said driving member adapted to transmit movement from said driving member to said rockable shaft whenever said rockable shaft is not prevented from moving, the apparatus further comprising supply rods for preventing and permitting movement of the rockable shafts, and a rockable lever connecting said supply rods and adapted to be rocked by the levers ghat engage with the notches in the movable ars.

5. Apparatus for the mechanical assembling of statistical cards bearing corresponding data as claimed in claim 1, comprising a discharge rod and a supply rod for each pair of feeler plates, a beam connecting the supply and discharge rods of one pair of feeler plates, a transverse shaft fitted into the magazine for receiving cards discharged from the same pair of feeler plates, means for rocking said transverse shaft when said beam rises, a double armed lever secured to said shaft, one end of said lever being adapted to be moved into the path of the cards passing from the feeler plates to the magazine, a resiliently mounted pawl adapted to retain said lever with one end in the path of the cards, and a projection on said pawl adapted to be struck by a card passing along under said lever so as to cause the pawl to release said lever.

6. Apparatus for the mechanical assembling of statistical cards bearing corresponding data as claimed in claim 1, comprising means for displacing the feeler pins and the means for preventing and permitting the supply and discharge of cards between the feeler plates for the purposes of adjustment.

'7. Apparatus for the mechanical assem name to this specification.

CORNELIS HENDRICUS STUIVENBERG. 

